Senate confirms Doug Parker head of OSHA
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The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Doug Parker to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as the 13th assistant secretary of Labor.
In a 50-41 vote, Mr. Parker became the first confirmed leader of OSHA since January 2017. He most recently served as chief of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and previously served as deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration under the Obama administration. Mr. Parker was also part of the Biden transition team on worker health and safety issues.
The American Society of Safety Professionals, representing over 36,000 safety professionals, issued a statement Tuesday on Mr. Parker’s confirmation as the Department of Labor’s new head of workplace safety.
“This leadership role was unoccupied for too long, and the position is more important than ever given the workplace safety challenges created by the pandemic and the continuing evolution of how work is performed,” Brad Giles, ASSP president, said in a statement. “We recognize that Doug is a strong proponent of protecting workers and believe his public policy experience will help OSHA. We look forward to working with Doug and his staff on many occupational safety and health issues.”
